South Indian trap and hip hop unite in Stay Up All Night - the new collaboration between GWS (Kerala/LA) and Cartel Madras (Calgary/Tamil Nadu).
Out on Vancouver based label Snakes x Ladders and produced by Dan Pearson, the upbeat, brooding track features deft hooks and flawless bars delivering a love song to late nights.
Pic: Facebook
We hear much about rap coming out of Bombay in northern India - but this effort shines a light on the rich underground hip hop scene of South India. Cartel Madras first heard of GWS after a collaboration with rapper Thirumali - and with the breakout success of his track Kottayam Duke, a collaboration was only a matter of time.
The music video was shot during quarantine by 3 different videographers in 3 different cities - Los Angeles, Calgary and Toronto. All together it suggests isolation and togetherness - the coming together of 3 artists in full stride riding the winds of success.
Glen Koshy George, best known by his stage name GWS, is an experimental artist specializing in a variety of genres in both the Malayalam and English language. GWS’ roots are as diverse as his musical stylings ranging from his birthplace of Kerala to Bahrain and ultimately his current location of Los Angeles. At 19 years old, GWS is one of the youngest faces of Malayalam Hip Hop.
Cartel Madras is a Calgary-based hip-hop sensation, signed to SubPop (US) and Royal Mountain (CAN). Hailing from Madras in South India, sisters Contra and Eboshi (a.k.a. Priya and Bhagya Ramesh, respectively) are rappers building a considerable fanbase and capturing the attention of fascinated on-lookers as they develop empowering narratives as people of colour (POC).